the beginning
as march afternoons in ohio go, it
was a stunning friday afternoon. three-thirty sounded like as good a
time as any to skip out on work... and so began my vacation.
after some last-minute errands and packing, i arrived at tiffany's. we packed up and headed north for the first leg of our trip. four hours later, we were greeted on arrival by tiff's sister, brother-in-law, and one very hyper pug. after a bit of visiting, we slept off the long day. rested, fed, showered, and packed up again, tiff and i were off to boston via a slight detour to niagara falls. for the record: holding the phone out to thousands of gallons of water crashing hundreds of feet towards the earth, only sounds like white noise to anyone on the other end of the line. also for the record: you don't seem to need a passport or birth certificate to cross the border at niagara; so just skip the american side photo opportunities and US$10 parking, and head on over to a more expansive view and cheaper parking. and bring a raincoat.
[addendum: it turns out that i am happier with the photos from the american side than i am with the canadian side. there is more depth and less wet mistiness (these photos could have been taken pretty much anywhere, no?). HOWEVER, the actual view, in person, is still more impressive from ontario. this is all just fyi... because i'm sure you all care.]
we made our way back to i-90 and continued eastward, slowly leaving the flatlands and entering more scenic territory. it is somewhere in this stretch -- possibly around schenectady[!] -- that i rediscovered the fun of the "slurpy sloth" voice. if you've seen the movie ice age, you should know what i'm talking about. if you haven't, then what the heck? go rent it, eh? nearing 10pm, we arrive, finally, in boston. after following a series of "slight rights" and "slight lefts" in which street names reinvent themselves for no particular reason [note to rachel: think murfreesboro], we find our friend's apartment building and snag "close" parking [note to locals: if i parked at mcdonald's, this would approximate "close" parking to my apartment]. the three of us cart our things up to naomi's GIGANTIC apartment, visit for a bit, and then crash out in our respective rooms.
sunday morning naomi introduces us to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway -- otherwise known simply as, "the T". we take the orange line to our stop and quickly discover that boston is most certainly a walking city. [not to worry, we are reminded of this daily throughout our week.] after church we connect with rachel [yay!], and it's off to a local pub, where rachel's friend theis meets us as well. i conspicuously request a burger and fries among the sea of breakfast orders, and during the course of conversation it is pointed out that i am the catalyst/connection for most of the relationships at the table. this is surprising to me; not only because i didn't realize it before, but because i don't usually find myself in such a position. also of note: naomi's meal comes with a mysterious british pudding, which looks thoroughly disgusting.
en route to the st. patrick's day parade in south boston [how apropos], we stop at a shoe store, where tiff forsakes her lovely but unsuitable boots and buys a pair of kickass, bright orange athletic shoes... oh, yeah. as we near the parade route, we are accosted by every shade of green, on every kind of fabric, accessory, or toy you might ever imagine. the party atmosphere in southie is fun and relaxed. and involves lots of open containers. we settle in for the miscellany of bands, politicians, military and veteran regiments, along with some other more surprising groups, including but not limited to: a women's tackle football team, a guinness bus, someone in a cock-eyed chicken costume, buddy blood-drop, and a certain festive truck with more than one unhappy child in tow. all in all, a very festive and charming welcome to this city.
after a bit of misdirection, the five of us find the T and rest our weary feet. cameras are pulled and picture taking abounds, and i am taken by the juxtaposition of familiarity and anonymity on this particular subway journey.
...
until i get both some sleep and my pictures back, i'm at a loss for the rest the evening's events. i'm only on sunday?! this might be a longer documentation than i thought.
also, if you were a party to any of these recollections and i missed something, please feel free to add details...
after some last-minute errands and packing, i arrived at tiffany's. we packed up and headed north for the first leg of our trip. four hours later, we were greeted on arrival by tiff's sister, brother-in-law, and one very hyper pug. after a bit of visiting, we slept off the long day. rested, fed, showered, and packed up again, tiff and i were off to boston via a slight detour to niagara falls. for the record: holding the phone out to thousands of gallons of water crashing hundreds of feet towards the earth, only sounds like white noise to anyone on the other end of the line. also for the record: you don't seem to need a passport or birth certificate to cross the border at niagara; so just skip the american side photo opportunities and US$10 parking, and head on over to a more expansive view and cheaper parking. and bring a raincoat.
[addendum: it turns out that i am happier with the photos from the american side than i am with the canadian side. there is more depth and less wet mistiness (these photos could have been taken pretty much anywhere, no?). HOWEVER, the actual view, in person, is still more impressive from ontario. this is all just fyi... because i'm sure you all care.]
we made our way back to i-90 and continued eastward, slowly leaving the flatlands and entering more scenic territory. it is somewhere in this stretch -- possibly around schenectady[!] -- that i rediscovered the fun of the "slurpy sloth" voice. if you've seen the movie ice age, you should know what i'm talking about. if you haven't, then what the heck? go rent it, eh? nearing 10pm, we arrive, finally, in boston. after following a series of "slight rights" and "slight lefts" in which street names reinvent themselves for no particular reason [note to rachel: think murfreesboro], we find our friend's apartment building and snag "close" parking [note to locals: if i parked at mcdonald's, this would approximate "close" parking to my apartment]. the three of us cart our things up to naomi's GIGANTIC apartment, visit for a bit, and then crash out in our respective rooms.
sunday morning naomi introduces us to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway -- otherwise known simply as, "the T". we take the orange line to our stop and quickly discover that boston is most certainly a walking city. [not to worry, we are reminded of this daily throughout our week.] after church we connect with rachel [yay!], and it's off to a local pub, where rachel's friend theis meets us as well. i conspicuously request a burger and fries among the sea of breakfast orders, and during the course of conversation it is pointed out that i am the catalyst/connection for most of the relationships at the table. this is surprising to me; not only because i didn't realize it before, but because i don't usually find myself in such a position. also of note: naomi's meal comes with a mysterious british pudding, which looks thoroughly disgusting.
en route to the st. patrick's day parade in south boston [how apropos], we stop at a shoe store, where tiff forsakes her lovely but unsuitable boots and buys a pair of kickass, bright orange athletic shoes... oh, yeah. as we near the parade route, we are accosted by every shade of green, on every kind of fabric, accessory, or toy you might ever imagine. the party atmosphere in southie is fun and relaxed. and involves lots of open containers. we settle in for the miscellany of bands, politicians, military and veteran regiments, along with some other more surprising groups, including but not limited to: a women's tackle football team, a guinness bus, someone in a cock-eyed chicken costume, buddy blood-drop, and a certain festive truck with more than one unhappy child in tow. all in all, a very festive and charming welcome to this city.
after a bit of misdirection, the five of us find the T and rest our weary feet. cameras are pulled and picture taking abounds, and i am taken by the juxtaposition of familiarity and anonymity on this particular subway journey.
...
until i get both some sleep and my pictures back, i'm at a loss for the rest the evening's events. i'm only on sunday?! this might be a longer documentation than i thought.
also, if you were a party to any of these recollections and i missed something, please feel free to add details...
mdog
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Reader Comments (11)
and, do you remember amanda's dad? "it's ghetto."